


bandaids

by onceuponaloonatic



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, and jeongyeon is a child psychologist, dahyun is a social worker, jihyo is an architect, mina works for a law firm, okay misahyo is really the only ship, sana is a physics professor, the others only kind of get mentioned, tw for child abuse, tw for miscarriage, tw for talks of death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 19,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28038510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onceuponaloonatic/pseuds/onceuponaloonatic
Summary: Sana, Jihyo, and Mina have been married for longer than almost all of their friends. And despite being married for so long, they are still extremely happy together. They had two dogs, a kitten, and each other, what more could they ask for? Everything was perfect, right?i suck at descriptions, i'm so sorry :(
Relationships: Chou Tzuyu/Kim Dahyun, Hirai Momo/Son Chaeyoung, Im Nayeon/Yoo Jeongyeon, Minatozaki Sana/Myoui Mina/Park Jisoo | Jihyo
Comments: 10
Kudos: 126





	1. i'm afraid

“Bye Haeunie!” Sana waved at the little girl and Dahyun. Dahyun waved back, carrying Hauen in her arms as she took her daughter to the car. Sana shut the front door behind them, falling against the door once it was shut. She loved Haeun, she loved all of her nieces and nephews, but watching them wasn’t easy. The babysitting part was fine, Sana had been playing babysitter for almost twelve years now, it was being around the kids that kept getting harder and harder. They were all lovely people, and Sana actually did enjoy getting the opportunity to play with them and help her friends out, it had nothing to do with them. It was her. She was the problem.

“Satang?” Sana sighed when she heard Mina’s voice. She turned and saw Mina standing there in a baby blue apron, one of their dogs at her feet. “Did Haeun leave?”

“Yup, Dahyun just got her.” Sana nodded. “Do you need me to take Tsuki on a walk?”

“Are you okay?” Mina ignored Sana’s question, untying her apron and slinging it over her arm, her eyes shining in concern for Sana. 

“Of course.” Mina knew Sana wasn’t. In fact, she knew what was wrong with Sana. She knew it all too well. “When is Hyo getting home?”

“She said she will be home by dinner.” Mina grabbed her wife’s hand. “Do you want to talk about it?” Sana never did. But Mina didn’t want to either.

“No.” Sana sighed. “I’ll take Tsuki and Hinata on a walk now.” Sana turned her attention to the black Shiba Inu standing by Mina’s feet. Tsuki perked up at the mention of the word walk and her name and Sana turned to grab her leash. Hinata, their orange Shiba Inu, came running at the sound of her leash being picked up. 

“I’ll come with you.” Mina put the apron down on the table by the entrance. 

“No, it’s okay. It’s cold and you aren’t fully dressed.” Sana giggled at Mina’s thin shirt and sweatpants. “You get cold easily.”

“I’ll put a jacket on.” Mina pouted. 

“Fine. You know I can’t resist you when you pout.” Sana smiled at Mina and kissed her cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too…” Mina watched as Sana bent down to clip the leash onto both of the excited dogs' collars. “Hey… You know we could always…” Mina stopped herself mid-sentence. Sana was already sad, Mina didn’t want to make it worse by bringing things up she knew she shouldn’t.

“Always what?”

“Nevermind.” Mina nodded, grabbing Tsuki’s moon printed leash.

“Okay.” Sana nodded. “You ready?” 

“Sure, let’s go.” Mina knew it was better to stop herself before she truly upset Sana.

xx 

“It’s really good, thank you Mitang.” Sana smiled as she ate. Jihyo was sitting next to her, looking ready to fall asleep in her chair as she ate. “Jihyo-ya are you tired?”

“Yeah.” Jihyo yawned. “Today was really long for some reason.”

“I’m sorry.” Sana grabbed her free hand over the table. Tsuki and Hinata were both hovering by Sana’s chair, hoping for any food scraps while their owners ate.   
“It’s okay.” Jihyo yawned again. “I might just go to bed early though.”

“Of course. You should.” Sana nodded. “Besides being long, was your day okay?”

“It was fine I guess.” Jihyo yawned for the third time. “I thought about coming home to you guys all day.”

“Don’t lie, you wanted to come home for Kuromi.” Sana giggled, referring to their new kitten. It was really Jihyo’s more than anything, as the cat hated anyone that wasn’t Jihyo. Since they also had two one-year-old puppies, they had been keeping Kuromi in their guest room upstairs so she could get used to their house. Needless to say, Jihyo had spent most of her time with the cat in the guest room. 

“Well…” Jihyo laughed. “I’m kidding. I’m serious. I want to cuddle.”

“Well, I’ll be happy to cuddle you.” Sana laughed, squeezing Jihyo’s hand. “Minari? Something wrong?” Sana had noticed how Mina had been staring into space since they had sat down to eat. 

“I was just thinking…” Mina nodded.

“About what?”

“Nothing,” Mina answered. She couldn’t talk about it. Not right now. It was too soon still. Even if it was slowly killing all of them, they weren’t ready to talk about it yet.

“Tell me,” Sana whined.

“It’s work stuff Sana.” Mina nodded. “Just thinking about my meeting next week.”

“Boring.” Sana pouted. 

“Unlike you, some of us have boring jobs.” Jihyo laughed.

“My job is boring sometimes.” Sana pouted.

“What part of being a physics professor is boring?”

“Grading papers.” Sana pouted. “And grading tests.”

“Well, you make up for it by getting to do research projects. The university lets you do anything you want, you're lucky.” 

“It’s because I’m pretty and smart.” Sana laughed. “You can get away with anything if you're a pretty and smart professor.”

“Pretty and smart?” Jihyo teased. “That’s a lot, don’t you think?”

“Meanie.” Sana pouted. “Mitang Hyo is bullying me.” Mina giggled at her two wives.

“You did say you were pretty AND smart.” Mina joined in the teasing.

“Stop,” Sana whined. “Tsuki-chan, Hinata-chan your other mommies are bullying me.” The two dogs looked at Sana momentarily before focusing on the food being eaten. “Meanies.”

“We love you, you know?” Jihyo squeezed Sana’s hand.

“You better.” Sana pouted. 

“We do.” Mina nodded. “We always have.” 

The smile Sana gave Mina’s heart back was enough to distract her from her thoughts for the rest of the night. It wasn’t until the three were laying in bed, Jihyo asleep in Sana’s arms while Mina held Sana from behind, that her thoughts returned. Sana was as asleep as Jihyo, her hair already messy and slightly damp from her shower, while Mina looked at her. All Mina could think about were her thoughts from earlier. They were swirling in her brain, consuming her entirely instead of sleep.

“I want to try again,” Mina whispered, voicing her thoughts out loud. “I want to have a child with you… Both of you.” 

Mina fell asleep not long after, never noticing that Sana wasn’t as asleep as Mina had thought she was.

xx 

“What are you looking at?” Jihyo quickly shut her computer when she saw Sana leaning over to try and sneak a peek at her computer.

“Nothing.” Jihyo quickly answered.

“It’s not nothing.” Mina looked away from her video game at the commotion her wives were causing. “Tell me.”

“It’s work stuff,” Jihyo answered.

“Then why can’t I see it?” Jihyo made eye contact with Mina, before quickly looking away. Mina tilted her head to the side at Jihyo’s suspicious behavior, but chose not to comment, instead going back to her game. 

“It’s confidential. I signed an NDA.” Jihyo nodded.

“Since when is your work so secretive?” Sana whined.

“It-it just is.” Jihyo shrugged.

“You're being suspicious…” Sana narrowed her eyes at Jihyo.

“I’m sorry, it’s work I can’t tell you.” Jihyo tried to explain. “Besides don’t you think we should go feed Kuromi? It’s about time for that-”

“Don’t change the subject.” Sana pouted. “Do you promise it’s work stuff?”

“I swear.” Mina looked at Jihyo once more, noticing how she put her computer away, out of Sana’s reach, before taking Sana upstairs with her to go attend to their kitten. 

xx 

“What were you really looking at?” Sana had fallen asleep earlier, and Mina and Jihyo had untangled themselves from her to continue talking in the study so Sana could sleep. 

“What do you mean?” Jihyo asked, working to pour two glasses of wine for the two of them. 

“You know what I mean. Earlier. What you didn’t want Sana to see.” Mina explained. “I know it wasn’t work stuff.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I work for the law firm your company uses to and I know for a fact there wasn’t any mention of an NDA,” Mina explained. “Plus, you’re not great at lying.”

“Sana believed me.” Jihyo giggled, handing Mina a glass of wine.

“I love Sana but Chaeyoung once convinced her that pigeons weren’t real.” Mina laughed at the memory of her wife coming home and insisting that pigeons weren’t real. Sana was very smart, a lot more than most people gave her credit for, but she could be convinced by things easily sometimes. 

“That was pretty funny,” Jihyo remembered, swirling her wine around in her glass. She let out a breathy sigh before taking a long sip of wine. “I was looking at the adoption approval process.” That wasn’t what Mina was expecting.

“Like the child adoption approval process? We have enough animals so I hope it wasn’t-”

“Yes, the child adoption approval process.” Jihyo took another long sip of wine. “I know I shouldn’t, you guys aren’t ready yet but-”

“No… I’m ready.” Mina nodded. “At least, I’m ready to talk about this again.” Mina had no idea Jihyo had felt the same as her. She thought she was the only one who felt what she felt.

“You are?” Jihyo was genuinely confused. 

“Yeah…” Mina nodded. “I’ve thought about it a lot lately.” Neither of them could make eye contact with each other, which was rare for the two of them. Normally the two were more than comfortable around each other, arguably more comfortable with each other than with Sana. They loved their wife, but she was an extrovert, so she didn’t always understand Jihyo and Mina’s desire to stay in rather than go out sometimes. In that sense, Jihyo and Mina understood each other more than Sana understood them. This uncomfortable air between the two of them was rare, and neither liked it. “I think adoption is a good idea.”

“I think so too. I just- I don’t think Sana is ready to talk about it yet.” Jihyo sighed, taking another sip of her drink. Mina was fidgeting in her seat, and Jihyo knew that to be a nervous habit of Mina’s. She grabbed Mina’s hand and squeezed it. 

“I don’t either…” Mina sighed. “But-but I really want to have a child.” Jihyo hated that tears came to Mina’s eyes. She knew the emotions behind Mina’s teary eyes. The frustration, the fear, the sadness. She knew it all too well. Mina cried easier than Jihyo did, but Jihyo imagined she could cry about this same topic.

“I know baby…” Jihyo put her glass of wine down and walked over to Mina, giving her a hug. “I do too.”

“When do you think Sana will be ready?” Mina buried her face into Jihyo’s shoulder, tears burning the corner of her eyes. 

“I don’t know honey…” Jihyo sighed. “Soon, I hope.” 

“It’s so hard. All of our friends have kids that are growing up so fast. And they all look so happy. I want that too. I want it so bad.” Mina sobbed, clutching tightly to Jihyo’s shirt.

“I know darling… One day. I promise.” Jihyo whispered, holding Mina tighter as sobs wracked through her. She couldn’t help but place a kiss on Mina’s forehead, hoping it would convey how she felt. Tears burned behind Jihyo’s eyes as held Mina. It hurt her to see Mina like this. But she wasn’t sure what she could do to fix it. They couldn’t rush Sana. They had to wait for her to be ready too, even if it killed both of them. 


	2. bandaids are no good for heartache

“Mitang?” Mina whined as Sana whispered her name. Her head hurt, it always did after she cried, and she was still exhausted. “You need to get up baby, you have work.”

“Don’t want to,” Mina whined. Sana smiled a bit and hugged Mina tightly, peppering kisses to Mina’s cheeks.

“You always say that.” Sana giggled, putting her weight on Mina. “You have to get up.”

“No, I'm quitting my job,” Mina whined.

“No, you're not.” Sana giggled at her wife’s dramatics. “You do this all the time.” 

“What’s going on here?” Jihyo laughed as she came out of the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel.

“Mitang is quitting her job.” Sana giggled, pulling Mina’s hands away from her face. Mina groaned and screwed her eyes shut. 

“It’s too early,” Mina whined, trying to wiggle out of Sana’s hold.

“I already made you coffee though.” Mina perked up at the mention of coffee, Jihyo having to hold back a laugh at the adorable look on Mina’s face. “But if you are quitting I guess you don’t need it.”

“Did you put milk in it?” Mina asked, opening her eyes to look at Jihyo. 

“Of course.” Jihyo nodded. “But only people who go to work get coffee.”

“Fine,” Mina whined. “Sana get off.”

“You promise you're getting up?” Sana asked.

“Yeah,” Mina whined again.

“Good.” Sana leaned down and gave Mina a short kiss. “Good morning.” Sana rolled off of Mina and went up to Jihyo, hugging her other wife and kissing her cheek. “Good morning to you too. Thank you for breakfast.”

“Of course.” Jihyo smiled at Sana’s antics, drying her hair with a towel while Sana held onto her.

“You made breakfast?” Mina asked, rolling out of bed. Jihyo and Sana both held back a laugh at Mina’s messy hair, their wife was adorable when she was tired. 

“Yup.” Jihyo nodded. “It’s waiting for you when you get dressed. I’m going to take the dogs on a short walk and then I’ll be back.” 

“Have they eaten?” Mina asked.

“Yup, Sana fed them and Kuromi already.” Jihyo gently moved Sana off of her to approach Mina and give her a kiss. “You need to brush your teeth.”

“Fine,” Mina whined through a yawn.

“Bye babe. I’ll be back.” Jihyo kissed Mina’s forehead before repeating the action with Sana.

“Come on Minari, your breakfast is going to get cold.” Sana giggled, hugging Mina from behind and kissing her cheek. 

“I know.” Mina yawned again, going to the bathroom with Sana still hanging off of her like a dead weight. 

When Mina looked in the mirror, she noticed how obvious the signs of crying looked on her. She was just happy Sana didn’t comment because truthfully, she had no idea what she would say if Sana asked. 

xx 

“I know you two are keeping something from me.” Sana approached the topic over dinner that night. They had put the dogs outside, for the time being, letting the two of them run around while their owners ate. Mina had to stay late at work, so they ate a little bit later than they normally would.

“W-what are you talking about?” Jihyo asked between bites of chicken. They had decided to order chicken from Mina’s favorite place, it had been Jihyo’s idea to surprise their wife. 

“You two both have just, you have been keeping something from me lately.” Sana sighed. “You can just say it you know?” Mina and Jihyo both looked at each other, silently debating if they should tell Sana. “I promise, no matter what it is I can handle it… I just don’t like not knowing.”

“If you're sure…” Mina trailed off, locking eyes with Jihyo once more. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to say it, and she needed Jihyo to do it. 

“We were… thinking about looking into adoption.” Jihyo sighed. 

“Adopting like a child?” Sana asked.

“Yeah, like a child.” Jihyo nodded. “Of course, if you're not ready, there’s no pressure. We can wait some more if you need. We don’t want to hurt you after-” Jihyo stopped herself mid-sentence.

“No. No, it’s okay.” Sana nodded, looking down at her glass of water. “I think it’s a good idea.”

“Huh?” Mina and Jihyo were both genuinely confused. They were not expecting Sana to respond well to the idea of adoption, at least not yet.

“I think we should start looking into adoption.” Sana looked up from her glass. “We can’t keep like this forever. We all want kids, and we are not getting any younger. Plus adoption will prevent- I think it’s a good idea.” Sana explained.

“Y-Your serious?” Mina asked, still genuinely confused.

“Yes, Mitang I am. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it.” Sana gave a small smile. It wasn’t as wide as it could have been, but they were surprised Sana was even smiling at all. “If you guys were waiting for me, you should have talked to me about it.”

“We didn’t want to make you sad.” Mina pouted.

“Well, I’m not sad,” Sana answered. “I want to do it.”

“Seriously?” Jihyo asked.

“You're sure?”

“Stop. I’m saying I want to do it.” Sana giggled. “Let’s start talking to Dahyun. I’ve heard it takes a while to get approved-”

Mina and Jihyo both tuned Sana out after that. They were both just surprised Sana seemed so okay with it. But they weren’t going to complain. They were just happy. And they weren’t going to do anything to jeopardize that. 

xx 

“Thanks for helping us with this Dahyun.” Sana smiled at her friend, handing Dahyun a cup of tea while she looked over a document on their couch. Haeun was on the floor, laying on her stomach while she colored. Jihyo and Mina were both on the chair next to Dahyun, also looking over some paperwork.

“Of course. It’s literally my job Unnie.” Dahyun laughed.

“Still… You don’t have to help us out.” Sana sighed, sitting next to Dahyun on the couch.

“I want to.” Dahyun shrugged. “You guys are good people, I can feel confident that you guys will be good parents. Which honestly I can’t say I feel every time I drop a kid off at their new home.”

“I was surprised we were able to get approved so fast,” Jihyo commented.

“Well, I will admit I did pass on a good word to my supervisor.” Dahyun laughed, leaning back in her chair and looking at Haeun.

“Having a friend that’s a social worker is pretty helpful.” Jihyo nodded, wrapping one arm around Mina’s waist. “How is work going?” 

“Well it’s not the best job in the world, but I like it.” Dahyun shrugged. “It never gets easier though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, sometimes I know placements aren’t good for certain kids. Like the kid isn’t a good fit or the parents are well not the best, but I don’t have a choice. A lot of the time kids just get put where there’s space.” Dahyun sighed. “This one foster family we have is well… Problematic. I know the kids aren’t getting treated well, but during inspections, everything always comes out fine, so we are powerless to do anything.”

“That’s awful.” Sana sighed.

“I know. Especially because I’ve had to place some of the more, special, kids there.” Dahyun sighed. “But enough about that. Everything seems to look fine. This certifies your approval so your welcome to start looking into kids. I can send you my schedule and I can introduce you to some of the ones I think might be a good fit. Just keep in mind that not every kid is perfect for every family.”

“We know.” Sana nodded. “Adoption is complicated.”

“Yeah, it is.” Dahyun nodded with a sigh. “So-” Dahyun was interrupted with her phone ringing. She checked the collar id and Sana heard her swear under her breath. “Speaking of work, sorry I need to take this.”

“Sure.” Sana smiled at her friend. “Haeunie! Come to Auntie Sana!” Sana caught the attention of the five-year-old. Haeun smiled and ran to Sana, Sana picking her up and putting her in her lap. “Have you been good for your mama and mommy Haeunie?”

“Uh-hum.” Hauen nodded. “I got a gold star this week!”

“Oh, you did?” Sana smiled at her niece. “I bet your mommy and mama were super proud of you.”

“They were. We took a picture!” Haeun giggled.

“Well, you’ll have to show me when your mommy gets back.” Sana wrapped Haeun up in a big hug. “What else did you do this week?”

Looking on, Jihyo and Mina both couldn’t help but smile. Sana had always done well with children. And they both knew she would make a great mother soon. 

“Sorry to cut this short, but Haeun we need to go kiddo.” Dahyun came back into the room after a bit, a serious look on her face. 

“I don’t want to.” Haeun pouted, holding onto Sana.

“Work emergency?” Sana asked.

“Emergency is putting it lightly.” Dahyun sighed, a worried look on her face. All the other adults could immediately tell something was very wrong, but Hauen didn’t seem to pick up on it. “Come on Haeun, I need to take you to your Mama and Oppa so I can go work.”

“I don’t want to go.” Haeun pouted some more. “I want to stay with Auntie Sana.”

“We can keep her while you deal with work,” Sana explained. “I’ll even text Tzuyu for you.”

“Oh Unnie you don’t have to, I wouldn’t want to burden you-”

“Nonsense, we love keeping Haeun.” Sana interrupted. “Minari, Jihyo, it’s okay right?”

“Of course.” Jihyo smiled at Dahyun. “Go deal with work. We’ll keep Hauen.”

“Thank you so much.” Dahyun sighed. “Haeun be good. I’ll be back in a few hours.” Dahyun practically ran out of their house after grabbing her coat.

“It must have been serious,” Mina commented. “She looked scared.”

“She did… I hope she’s okay.” Jihyo sighed. Sana looked at her wives and then Haeun. She knew Haeun was worried, even if she wasn’t showing it. 

“Hey Haeun, why don’t we go play with Tsuki-chan and Hina-chan?” Sana offered the little girl. 

“Puppies!” Haeun smiled. 

“Can one of you text Tzuyu for me?” Sana asked as she stood up with Haeun in her arms.

“Sure.” Mina gave Sana a small smile. “We’ll come out when we finish up.”

“Okay.” Sana smiled, adjusting Haeun in her arms. “We’ll be waiting.”

xx 

Dahyun didn’t end up making it back until after Hauen fell asleep. She had fallen asleep in their guest room, which was a common occurrence when they kept Haeun. 

“Thank you again for keeping her.” Dahyun sighed, collapsing on her friend’s couch.

“Of course.” Sana nodded.

“But are you okay?” Jihyo asked. 

“Yeah, I mean I’m fine.” Dahyun sighed. “It’s just, that family I mentioned earlier, the problematic one? Well, they got turned into the police by one of the kid's teachers for child abuse. Earlier today the police went to their house and arrested both of the foster parents on abuse charges. Unfortunately, they had a lot of kids, so we had to go find emergency placements for all of them.”

“Were you able to?” Mina asked.

“For all of them but one.” Dahyun sighed. “After taking Haeun home I’m going to go get her from the police station. I don’t know what I’m going to do with her, Haeun’s bed isn’t big enough for the two of them and I would feel bad making her share her bed with a stranger. I would put her on our couch but that makes me feel bad. She’s coming from an abusive household, I don’t want to just stick her on a couch.” 

“That’s awful.” Sana sat next to Dahyun on the couch, putting a comforting hand on the woman’s shoulder.

“The worst is this isn’t this kid's first run-in with abuse.” Dahyun blew her hair out of her face. “She’s younger than Haeun, but she’s been in abusive households her entire life.” Dahyun sighed. “I found a permanent placement for her in Busan, but since the police are still investigating the foster family I can’t just ship her out to Busan anytime soon. At least not until the trial is over.” 

“I’m sorry.” Jihyo sat on Dahyun’s other side. “That sounds rough.”

“I just- I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with her.” Dahyun groaned. “This is what I meant by it doesn’t get any easier.”

“Why is she so hard to find placement for? If I can ask that of course.” Mina mentioned.

“No, you can. It’s her age. Many foster homes either specialize in kids under five or don’t take them. All the ones that are in the right age bracket for her are full, and all the ones with openings won’t take someone so young.” Dahyun explained. “All the other kids were older, so we found a place for all of them no problem…”

“I’m sorry… Is there anything we can do to help?” Sana asked, squeezing Dahyun’s shoulder. 

“The only thing you could do is magically find me an emergency placement for a three and a half-year-old.” Dahyun sighed.

“Well... We could always take her. We just got approved to adopt so being an emergency placement should be fine right?” Mina and Jihyo both were shocked by Sana’s offering. The thought had crossed both of their minds during some point in the conversation, but it was still surprising.

“Oh Unnie you don’t have to-”

“No. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing she didn’t have a place to go.” Sana nodded. 

“Are you serious?” Dahyun asked, perking up a bit.

“Sure.” Sana nodded. “How long is it for?”

“Just a few weeks until the trial is over.” Dahyun smiled. “Oh my god, you're a lifesaver. I’ll go take Haeun home and then get the paperwork. Is it okay if I bring her over tonight?”

“Sure.” Sana nodded. 

“Thank you so much Unnie.” And just like that, Dahyun was gone.

“Uh, Sana?” Jihyo looked at her wife. “Do you know what you just got us into?”

“I know. You guys are okay with it right?” Sana looked at them both with the puppy dog eyes she occasionally brought out. The ones she knew neither of them could resist. 

“I mean, of course.” Jihyo sighed.

“I’m sorry for getting so caught up and not asking. But- but it’s not right. It doesn’t sit well with me knowing this kid doesn’t have anywhere to go.” Sana explained.

“No, we get it.” Mina nodded, grabbing Sana’s hand and squeezing it. 

“Yeah, I would have offered the same thing.” Jihyo nodded. “But, this isn’t going to be easy. From what Dahyun said it sounds like this girl has been through a lot. She will probably be fragile.”

“I know.” Sana leaned forward and buried her face in Jihyo’s stomach. “I just want to help her. If only a little bit.” Jihyo and Mina both smiled at that. Sana really was too nice sometimes. 

“Of course.” Mina leaned over and kissed Sana’s temple.

“We will do our best to help her.” Jihyo smiled.

“Promise?”

“We swear.” 


	3. not okay

By the time Dahyun brought the child over, it was almost midnight. All three of them were tired, but they knew they had to stay up. They busied themselves getting their guest room ready and cleaning up a bit, but it didn’t make time move any faster. They crated both of the dogs and made sure Kuromi was in her bed before waiting in the living room, a movie that none of them were paying attention to playing on the tv. 

“Sorry, it’s so late.” Was the first thing Dahyun said to them when she finally came over. She had a small suitcase in one hand along with a tote bag hanging off of her other arm. They could all see a tiny hand poking out from behind Dahyun’s leg. “This is Nico. Nico say hi.” Dahyun tried to prompt the little girl to come say hi but she refused. “Sorry, she’s really shy.”

“Oh it’s fine, I imagine she’s tired too.” Sana nodded.

“Nico, come on. This is going to be your home for a bit, okay?” Dahyun sighed, putting the tote bag down and gently moving the child in front of her. Mina, Sana, and Jihyo’s hearts all melted when they saw the little girl. She was tiny, practically drowning in her coat, she was tinier than they remembered their nieces and nephews being at that age. She was still hanging off of Dahyun’s leg, nearly refusing to let go. “There you go.” Dahyun sighed. “These three are going to be looking after you for a little bit okay?” Nico gave a tiny nod, looking more than intimidated.

“I’m Sana.” Sana bent down to Nico’s level, extending one hand out. Nico looked at Sana’s hand and then up at Dahyun as if asking for permission. 

“Go ahead, Nico. She won’t hurt you.” Dahyun encouraged. Nico shook Sana’s hand before stepping back closer to Dahyun. Nico balled her hands up into little fists, shivering in her thin coat. “I think she’s really tired, do you mind if I take her up to the guest room?”

“Sure, it’s the one Haeun and Daehyung always use when they are here. I’ll help you carry her stuff.” Sana smiled, grabbing the suitcase out of Dahyun’s hand. “Let’s go.” All the adults watched as Nico struggled to get her shoes off before entering the house, a look of awe on her little face as she looked around. She followed Dahyun and Sana upstairs, crawling on the stairs to get up them properly. 

“She’s adorable,” Jihyo commented once the three were out of earshot. 

“She’s so tiny.” Mina giggled, arranging Nico’s shoes so they were neat.

“I know. She looked really tired though.” Jihyo sighed, hugging Mina from behind. 

“I’m sure she is. She probably feels a bit overwhelmed with everything too. It’s been a big day for her.” Mina nodded. “Change is hard when you're that young.”

“Your right…” Jihyo nodded. “Did you notice she didn’t speak?”

“I’m sure she was just scared. It would be pretty scary to just suddenly be taken to a stranger's house and told you are going to live there.” Mina sighed, leaning back in Jihyo’s arms.

“You have a point, it probably would be terrifying.” Jihyo tightened her grip on Mina’s waist. The two made their way to the couch, cuddling against each other while they waited for Dahyun and Sana to come back down. After a while, the two came down. Dahyun still had the tote bag she had earlier hanging off of her arm, causing Mina and Jihyo to look at it suspiciously. 

“What’s in the bag?” Jihyo asked when they came down.

“Some basic toddler supplies. It’s nothing too fancy, just some of Haeun’s old stuff.” Dahyun explained, putting the bag down. “There’s a sippy cup, some old toys, and clothes, basic stuff like that.”

“Oh, thank you.” Mina looked at the bag. “We hadn’t even thought about that stuff.” 

“I didn’t give you guys enough time to really think about this stuff, so I figured bringing this was the least I could do.” Dahyun sighed, sinking into the chair. “I’ll come over tomorrow and bring over her file, I figured it would be better to discuss that stuff after we all get some sleep.”

“That’s a good point.” Sana giggled.

“There’s just a few basic things I need to go over in case she wakes up before I come over tomorrow,” Dahyun explained. “One, please be patient with her. I don’t want to get into Nico’s whole history right now, but it’s just, she’s had a rough life. She may not warm up to you guys for a while, and that’s normal and okay.”

“Of course. We don’t expect anything from her, whatever she’s comfortable with.” Sana nodded. 

“Yes, comfort is going to be important with Nico… That brings me to my next point, please don’t touch her, at least not yet. She barely lets me touch her without freaking out, I know you're a touchy person Unnie but she’s just, not ready to be touched much yet.” Dahyun addressed Sana. “Even if she looks like she’s struggling to get onto something, I think it’s just better to get her something to step on rather than lift her up.”

“Sure, of course.” Sana nodded.

“We’ll keep her in check.” Jihyo sighed, wrapping one arm around Sana’s waist.

“And lastly, well… Nico doesn’t talk.” Dahyun sighed. “I meant to tell you this earlier, but I completely forgot. I’m sorry.”

“She doesn’t talk… Like at all?” Sana asked.

“She’s never spoken a word. At least that anyone I know has heard. Her former foster family took her to a doctor and they determined it wasn’t anything physical. She just… Doesn’t talk.” Dahyun explained, playing with her nails to avoid eye contact. “She’s more intellectually developed than most kids her age, hell I think she’s probably more intellectually developed than Hauen, but her social development has just been slow, to say the least. She has five hand symbols to communicate. Even if they were awful people, her former foster parents did at least give her those. I wrote them down for you guys but they are pretty easy. One finger means she’s thirsty, two fingers means she’s hungry, three means she’s tired, four means she needs to go to the bathroom, and five means she needs your attention.” Dahyun demonstrated each one with her fingers. “I know that Nico’s a lot to take in. Thank you again for watching her for me.”

“Of course.” Sana nodded. “Is she going to be getting therapy while she’s with us? Would it be okay if we had her talk to Jeongyeon?”

“The therapy we have for kids isn’t… Well, it isn’t the best. Your welcome to try it with her on your own, but keep in mind her placement is only temporary so you can’t get too far into anything with her. Bringing Jeongyeon in is a good idea. I’ve taken kids to her before.” Dahyun explained, yawning slowly. “That should cover it for tonight.”

“Tired?” Jihyo asked.

“Yeah, and I think Tzuyu is pissed at me. I did kind of disappear on her tonight.” Dahyun giggled, standing up off the chair and stretching her back. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning to check on Nico and finalize the paperwork. Oh and I’ll ask Jeongyeon to come with me.”

“Sure, see you then.” The three watched as Dahyun left, all of them sighing once she was gone. 

“It’s worse than I thought.” Jihyo leaned her head onto Sana’s shoulder.

“I feel bad for her.” Sana nodded. “She’s clearly been through a lot.”

“Well, all we can do is our best to help her,” Mina mentioned, yawning and cuddling closer to Jihyo.

“Your right…” Sana agreed. “Let’s go to bed.”

“Sure.” Mina and Jihyo followed Sana upstairs, both of them holding her hands as they went upstairs. That night, none of them slept well. 


	4. so tell me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if you understand the chapter titles along with the fic title i love you

Sana ended up waking up first the next morning. Usually, it was Jihyo, so she was a bit surprised to be the first person awake. Regardless, she shook off the thought and decided to let the dogs out of their crates as well as feed them. She kissed Mina and Jihyo before quietly sneaking out of the room. 

When she passed by Nico’s door, she was a bit surprised to see it open. She had definitely closed it after helping Dahyun put Nico’s stuff down and get her into bed. She knocked on the door and pushed it open. She found the little girl sitting on the guest bed, busying herself playing with a toy Sana recognized Dahyun had brought for her. 

“Nico?” Nico jumped at the sound of her name. Sana felt bad for spooking the child. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Sana didn’t ignore the way Nico tensed up, hugging a pillow tightly to herself. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not mad at you.” Nico visibly relaxed at Sana’s comment. Sana was surprised how easily Nico had assumed she was mad at her. She didn’t think she had done anything to make Nico think she was angry, but she thought maybe her exhaustion from just waking up had communicated anger in some way without her knowing. “I’m Sana, I’m not sure if you remember me from last night.” Nico nodded at Sana’s point. “You do? That’s good.” Sana laughed to herself. Sana sat at the foot of the bed, a respectable distance away from Nico to give the child some space. Nico dropped the toy, sitting on her feet a fair distance away from Sana on the full-sized bed. 

“Are you hungry? Do you want some breakfast?” Nico looked at Sana suspiciously, and Sana did her best to portray a genuine smile. Nico nodded slowly, and Sana smiled wider at that. “Great, why don’t you come with me downstairs? I can introduce you to two other members of our house.” Nico seemed confused by Sana’s statement but followed her regardless. While Sana went down the stairs with ease, she didn’t notice Nico wasn’t behind her still until she was at the bottom. Nico was going down them one by one, on her little butt. Sana stifled a giggle at Nico’s technique for going down the stairs. Sana waited for her, keeping a small welcoming smile on her face the entire time. “Do you want to help me cook or do you want to watch some TV? I can put Pororo on for you.” Nico tilted her head to the side in confusion at Sana’s question. It was adorable, but Sana couldn’t focus on that.

After thinking for a bit Nico pointed to the kitchen, and Sana took that as her answer. “Okay, you can help me cook for Mina and Jihyo. But first, you need to meet some things.” Sana smiled, leading Nico to the laundry room where the dogs were. When Sana opened the door, Nico hid behind her. She wasn’t touching Sana, but Sana could tell Nico was comfortable enough using her to hide. “Hinata, Tsuki, I have someone for you two to meet.” Sana went to Tsuki’s crate first. Tsuki was the calmer of the two, so Sana thought that letting her out first would be better for Nico. “Nico, this is Tsuki.” Tsuki ran up to Nico once the crate door was open, sniffing Nico. Sana was happy they had trained the dogs not to jump on people anymore, Sana was sure her dog would topple Nico over if she jumped on her.

Nico looked at Tsuki hesitantly, obviously a bit afraid of her. She looked paralyzed with fear as Tsuki sniffed her, tensing up even more when Tsuki licked her leg. Nico balled her fists up and didn’t move as Tsuki licked her again. “It’s okay Nico, Tsuki wants to be your friend. She likes you.” Nico looked at Tsuki again, the dog's tail wagging. Sana was happy she had only let Tsuki out, even if Hinata was practically jumping in her crate, Nico wasn’t ready for Hinata’s energy. 

“Tsuki, sit.” The dog sat on command, her tail still wagging as she focused on Nico. “Why don’t you pet her?” Nico looked at Sana hesitantly, before shakily reaching a hand out to her. Nico put her hand on Tsuki’s soft head, petting her slowly. Her nerves seemed to disappear as she pet Tsuki. Sana smiled at the scene, loving the look on Nico’s face. She looked so happy, petting Tsuki. “See? Tsuki-chan is your friend.” Nico nodded, petting Tsuki slowly.

Sana knew Nico wasn’t ready for Hinata yet, but this was progress. And Sana would take any amount of progress she could get. 

xx 

“Do you like eggs Nico?” Sana asked as she cracked two eggs into the pan. Nico nodded, standing on a chair and carefully watching Sana. Sana had moved Tsuki and Hinata outside along with their breakfasts, knowing the two needed some time to run around and go to the bathroom. “That’s good. I do too.” Sana started cooking some more. Nico watched with interest as Sana cooked, not ever interrupting but having a good time watching. When they were done, Sana set the table, putting aside a little plate for Nico. She wasn’t sure what Nico liked yet, and she figured she would have to learn through trial and error. She just hoped Nico didn’t have any food allergies. 

“I’m going to go get Mina and Jihyo, I’ll be right back okay?” Sana turned to Nico, who was still standing on her chair. Once Nico nodded in confirmation, Sana went upstairs. She found Jihyo awake, lying in bed on her phone while Mina had her wrapped in her arms. “Good morning.”

“Good morning babe.” Jihyo smiled. 

“I just finished breakfast,” Sana informed. “Nico is downstairs, she helped me.”

“She did?” Jihyo asked.

“Well, she didn’t really do anything, but she seemed happy watching,” Sana explained. “Want to wake up Mina?”

“Sure.” Jihyo smiled, gently shaking Mina. “Morning sleepy head.” Jihyo smiled at Mina when she opened her eyes. 

“Mm… Morning.” Mina yawned.

“Good morning Mitang.” Sana smiled, walking over to Mina and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Breakfast is ready.”

“And someone is waiting on us, we can’t keep her waiting too long.” Jihyo smiled, kissing Mina’s other cheek.

“Huh?”

“Nico is downstairs.” Sana giggled at Mina’s confused state. 

“Oh… She’s awake?” Mina asked.

“She woke up before any of us did.” Sana giggled. “She met Tsuki this morning. She isn’t quite ready for Hinata, but she seems to be okay with Tsuki.”

“That’s good. I’m sure it would be better for her and Kuromi if we didn’t have them meet yet.” Jihyo rolled off the bed. 

“I agree. But in a way, they are pretty similar. Both timid little cuties.” Sana laughed. “Anyway, I’m going to watch her again. Your breakfasts are getting cold.” 

“Of course, we’ll be right down.” Jihyo smiled at Sana, watching her wife leave. Sana went down and found Nico poking at her food with her fork. 

“Hello, Nico.” Sana smiled. “I’m sorry we made you wait. You can eat if you want.” Nico nodded but didn’t start eating. Sana nodded at that, sitting next to Nico. “Jihyo and Mina are coming down in a moment. Do you remember them from last night?” Nico nodded slowly. “Dahyun is going to come over today too.” Nico perked up at that, looking at Sana. “She’ll be bringing one other person too, but you’ll meet her later okay?” Nico nodded again, still staring at her food. 

“Good morning Nico.” Nico turned when Jihyo said that to her, her little fists balling up again. Sana was starting to guess that was one of Nico’s nervous habits. “I don’t know if I told you this last night, but my name is Jihyo.” Jihyo bent down in front of Nico, giving her a kind smile. “And the one who’s half-asleep is my other wife Mina. She doesn’t do that well in the morning.” Jihyo pointed at Mina, who was half asleep at the table, nursing a cup of coffee in her hands. 

“I’m fine in the mornings.” Mina pouted. 

“No, you're not babe.” Sana giggled at Mina. 

“Am not.” Mina retorted.

“Are too,” Sana argued.

“Ignore them, they are always like this in the morning. Did you sleep okay?” Jihyo asked, taking her seat across from Nico. Nico nodded slowly, finally starting to eat.”That’s good. If there’s anything you need, just tell us, well just communicate it to us.” Jihyo smiled, starting to eat her breakfast. “We’ll be happy to get you whatever you need to feel comfortable here.” Nico avoided eye contact with Jihyo, but all three of them noticed the tiny smile tugging at Nico’s lips as she ate. 


	5. if your world is falling down

After breakfast, Nico settled onto the couch with the TV on. Mina and Jihyo had left to take Tsuki on a walk while Sana cleaned up from breakfast. Dahyun had texted Sana that she was going to come over after she ate breakfast and picked up Jeongyeon, and to keep Nico entertained until then. Sana knew that would be easy enough, what kid didn’t like TV? After finishing with the dishes, she joined Nico on the couch, opening her phone and scrolling through her social media page. That is until she felt a little poke on her leg.

“Hm?” Sana put her phone down, seeing Nico hugging a throw pillow and looking at her with one finger up. “You're thirsty?” Nico nodded. “Okay, I’ll go get you some water.” Sana grabbed the sippy cup Dahyun had brought for Nico, going to the kitchen to fill up the cup. Once she put it down she decided to go check on their kitten and bring her downstairs for a bit. 

Sana grabbed Kuromi, holding the tiny kitten in her arms and carrying her downstairs. Nico was still watching TV, seemingly not noticing when Sana sat down on the couch with Kuromi. Sana pet Kuromi behind the ears, the cat purring as Sana pet her. Nico looked over at the sound, and Sana almost giggled at how wide Nico’s eyes got at the kitten. She had the same look on her face that Mina got when she bought a game she had wanted for a while. “Oh yeah, Nico this is Kuromi.” Nico scooted closer to Sana, getting a closer look at Kuromi. “Do you like cats?” Nico nodded rapidly. “Here, why don’t you pet her?” Sana then remembered Jihyo had mentioned Nico meeting Kuromi probably wasn’t a great idea. But then again, Nico seemed happy and Kuromi wasn’t pawing at her or trying to scratch her, so Sana took it as a good sign. Nico reached one of her tiny hands out and pet Kuromi, smiling as she did so. “You like Kuromi, huh?” 

Nico smiled at Sana, nodding rapidly. “I know we have a lot of pets, thanks for putting up with them.” Sana giggled. “We don’t have any of our own kids, so our pets are kind of our kids.” Nico nodded at the explanation, petting Kuromi lightly. Kuromi continued to purr in Sana’s lap, and Nico looked the happiest Sana had seen her since she came to them. 

xx 

Dahyun and Jeongyeon ended up beating Mina and Jihyo to their house. Nico had been happy to see Dahyun, running to her leg and clinging to it. 

“Hey, Nico.” Dahyun laughed. “I hope they haven’t been too mean to you.” Nico nodded her head to the side rapidly, hugging Dahyun’s leg tightly. 

“We haven’t been mean to her at all.” Sana rolled her eyes. 

“Hey, Sana.” Jeongyeon sighed as she came in after Dahyun. “Where are the dogs?”

“On a walk with Jihyo and Mina,” Sana answered. “Kuromi is in the living room with her chew toy. But she won’t let most people touch her, I’m surprised she let me hold her earlier.”

“Oh right, how rude of me.” Dahyun interrupted. “Nico, this is Jeongyeon.” Nico looked at Jeongyeon, clearly intimidated by the tall woman. Nico balled her fists up again, not looking Jeongyeon in the eyes when she bent down to Nico’s level. 

“Hello, Nico. I’m friends with Dahyun, Sana, Jihyo, and Mina. And I’ll be working with you for a bit.” Nico looked at Dahyun confused with Jeongyeon's statement.

“Jeongyeon here is a feelings doctor,” Dahyun explained, trying to think of how to explain a psychologist to a child. “She’s just going to be talking with you about your feelings and stuff like that.” Nico nodded at that, still clearly afraid of Jeongyeon. “It’s going to be okay.”

“I know feelings can be scary, but I just want to help you feel better okay?” Jeongyeon continued trying to establish eye contact with Nico, who still tried to avoid it. Nico looked at the ground, tightening her fists. “Hey Sana, I think I’m going to get started with Nico while you and Dahyun talk. Dahyun filled me in on the way here. Do you mind if I steal your office?”

“Your welcome to it.” Sana nodded. 

“Okay, then Miss Nico, will you come with me?” Jeongyeon gave Nico a friendly smile, and Dahyun pushed the child towards Jeongyeon. Nico hesitantly nodded and followed Jeongyeon as Jeongyeon led them to Sana, Jihyo, and Mina’s shared home office. 

“Do you think she will be okay?” Sana asked once they were gone.

“Jeongyeon is a professional, I’m sure she’ll be fine.” 

xx 

“Go ahead and sit here, okay?” Jeongyeon showed Nico where to sit, Nico nodding and climbing into the chair. Jeongyeon sat across from her after making sure the door was shut. “I know things have changed a lot for you lately. Are you doing okay?” Nico nodded her head up and down slowly. “That’s good. I’m going to start off by saying you can be completely honest with me. I’m not going to tell on you to Sana, Mina, Jihyo, or even Dahyun if you say something you don’t want them knowing. It’s against the law for me to do that, so I promise you I won’t. Everything we discuss will stay in this room okay?” Nico nodded at that, looking at her lap and balling her fists up tightly in it. Jeongyeon made a mental note about Nico’s nerves and habits.

“Good. Now I know you haven’t been here for long, but do you like it at Sana, Mina, and Jihyo’s?” Nico nodded quickly at that. “That’s good. I’ve known the three of them for a long time, they are very nice.” Jeongyeon smiled. Nico still looked terrified, but she was starting to relax. And honestly, that’s all she could ask for. 

xx 

Once Mina and Jihyo were back, Dahyun got out Nico’s case file and handed it to Jihyo, 

“I’ll start from the beginning I guess. Nico was born to a Japanese mother and a Korean father. Nico’s birth mother died when she was only about three months old in an accident, and after that, her birth father began… Well getting violent. Nico was still a baby at the time, and we have no way of knowing if he was violent to her at first. Child protection wasn’t involved in Nico’s life until she was two. Her father had begun getting violent with his coworkers and he was eventually arrested for assaulting a coworker. When police went to the house, they were surprised to find Nico there, as he had said she was with her grandparents in Japan. She was malnourished and clearly hurt, so they added child abuse to her father’s charges. He pled guilty and is now in prison. I wasn’t Nico’s first social worker, but she ended up getting transferred to me. She was already placed in her last home when I got her case. We still don’t know the severity of what happened to her at her former foster home, she will be going in for doctor consults and police questioning next week. But other kids from the home were clearly abused, so we’re fairly sure she was as well.” Dahyun explained. “Her former home had about eight kids, so as you can imagine examining and questioning all of them is taking a while.”

“I’m sure…” Sana trailed off, looking over the shoulder at Nico’s file. “Are we allowed to know this stuff?”

“As her temporary guardians, yes you are allowed access to her file.” Dahyun nodded, “I’m essentially just telling you what’s written there.”

“Her life has been pretty rough so far…” Jihyo sighed.

“We don’t actually know if she remembers anything about her birth father, but we have to guess no,” Dahyun added. “So the situation with her foster family is probably her first memory of abuse. It’s good she’s working with Jeongyeon, she needs it.”

“The house in Busan you're sending her to, is there a lot of kids there too?” Dahyun sighed at Mina’s question.   
“Yes, unfortunately. The system is overrun Unnie, there’s only so much we can do.” Dahyun answered. “She needs one on one care I know, that’s why I’m hoping Jeongyeon can at least get her started on therapy.”

“Yeah, me too…”


	6. afraid of falling down

When Jeongyeon was done with Nico, she let the little girl go watch TV in the living room with Dahyun. She called Mina, Jihyo, and Sana into the office once Nico was comfortable. 

“How did it go?” Jihyo asked.

“She didn’t really open up much, but that’s to be expected from the first session.” Jeongyeon sighed, leaning back in her chair. 

“I’m sure her not talking doesn’t help…”

“Well, she’s actually pretty good at nonverbal communication, at least from what I can see” Jeongyeon nodded. “She’s a good kid, I can tell she is. She just needs some help with her social and emotional development. She clearly hasn’t had a lot of one on one care or attention, so she needs someone who can care about her. Have you guys figured out what you are going to do with her while you are working?” All three of them looked dumbfounded at the question. “You haven’t thought about it, have you?” 

“We haven’t really had the time to.” Sana protested. 

“Well, It’s going to be a complicated issue. I don’t think she’s emotionally or socially ready for a preschool class. Not only will she likely be overwhelmed, but she might also get bullied or isolated by the other kids because she doesn’t speak. I don’t think preschool is a good idea at all. But a nanny isn’t a great idea either, she’s already been thrown into a completely new environment with new people. I don’t even think she should meet anyone else for a bit. Just the three of you, me, and Dahyun are already a lot for her to process. That’s why I think this is going to be complicated.”

“I can work from home, at least sometimes.” Jihyo volunteered. “We just finished a major project, so my workload shouldn’t be too bad for a while.”

“And when you can’t, she can come to work with me. I know people that sneak their dogs in all the time, Nico will be fine.” Sana added.

“Good. If that works I think that’s the best option. First off, be patient with her. She’s new to your house and still adjusting. Change is very overwhelming at that age, and she’s still trying to process everything. However, I know your instincts will be to not be strict with her at all. She’s been through a lot, and that may make you want to coddle her, but do not let her get away with everything.” Jeongyeon started. “I can tell she came from a place that had very strict rules, so suddenly giving her all the freedom in the world could be intimidating and add stress to a child that does not need any more stressors. It may even comfort her a little to have some strictness. If she’s clearly misbehaving, don’t let her get away with it. Give her small, basic punishments, like timeouts or taking away tv for a little while. Also, try to break her habit of curling her fists up. She digs her fingernails into her palm every time, and I can tell this has been going on for a while as she has some scarring and marks. I know it’s a nervous habit, but we can’t let her get away with it. I’ll start stopping her when she does it with me, but you should start trying to break it with her too.”

“Sure.” Sana nodded, all three of them processing the information. 

“Next, establish a strict routine with her. It will help her adjust and feel more comfortable. Wake her up at the same time every morning, eat breakfast at the same time, have playtime and naptime at the same time every day, have bath time at the same time every night. I know routine is boring, but this is comforting to all children, especially this one.” Jeongyeon explained. “Finally, I would like to start seeing her multiple times a week. I’ll send you my schedule, but I would like to see her as much as I can after work.”

“Of course, you can come every day if that’s what she needs.” Mina grabbed Sana’s hand. “We just want her to be comfortable and leave here better than when she came.”

“That’s a good goal. It will be hard, but I think all of us can do it.” Jeongyoen blew a stray hair out of her face. “Any questions?”

“Yeah I have one, is that a hickey or a bruise- ow!” Sana screamed when Jeongyeon elbowed her in the side. Jihyo and Mina both laughed at their wife and friend. 

“Any serious questions?” Jeongyeon asked, all of them nodding.

“If we think of anything we will text you.” Jihyo smiled at Jeongyeon. 

“Good. I’ll make sure Nayeon understands she can’t come over with me yet, but just a warning I can’t always hold her back from seeing cute kids so she might show up even if I tell her not to.” Jeongyeon sighed at the mention of her wife.

“Nayeon usually shows up without warning anyway.” Sana giggles. “Her and Momo both.”

“Nayeon does remember to text us when she’s coming over more than Momo does.” Mina nodded at the thought. Momo did have a nasty habit of showing up unannounced. They never minded, Mina and Sana were even used to having Momo around. The three of them had lived together for years before they moved in with their respective partners. 

“That’s true.” Sana laughed. “But they are both pretty bad about it.”

“Nico is not ready for Nayeon.” Jeongyeon sighed. “Four strangers is hard enough to get used to.”

“Of course.” Mina nodded.

“I’ll make sure Momoring understands she can’t just show up when she wants a night away from the kids anymore.” Sana laughed. 

“Good.” Jeongyeon sighed again, putting her hand under her chin. “Spending lots of time with her will be important, try not to leave her alone much.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard.” Sana giggled, wrapping her arms around Mina from behind. “I love spending time with people.”

“We know.” Jeongyeon rolled her eyes. 

“We’ll do our best Jeong,” Jihyo looked at the doorway to their living room, she could see Dahyun’s back watching TV with the little girl. “Even if this is all only temporary…”

“Good, that’s all we can do in the short time we have...” 


	7. but the fire has started right behind me

After Jeongyeon and Dahyun left, Nico fell asleep on the couch. They were going to move her but weren’t sure if she was okay with them touching her, so they settled for putting a blanket over her and going to the other room to talk. 

“We should write down a schedule,” Sana said as she grabbed the whiteboard stuck to their refrigerator.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea, it will help us stick to it.” Mina nodded, watching Sana erase the little note Sana had written on there months ago. They used to write notes on it every day, but after a while, they just started forgetting about it. 

“Okay, she woke up pretty early this morning, so my guess is she’s used to waking up early. Let’s say, around seven?” Sana thought aloud. 

“Yeah, that sounds right.” Jihyo nodded. “I’ll plan on waking up with her, I’m usually awake by 7:30 for Kuromi anyway.”

“That’s so early,” Mina whined. 

“We know you and mornings don’t mix Mitang.” Sana giggled. “No one expects you to be up too early babe.”

“Good.” Mina smiled, watching as Sana started writing. Sana had always had the best handwriting out of all of them. Even if Korean wasn’t her first language, she always had the prettiest handwriting.

“She liked helping me cook this morning, well watching me cook.” Sana laughed. “It was so cute. I also introduced her to Tsuki and it went pretty well, but I don’t think she’s ready for Hinata quite yet.”

“Sure, makes sense. Hinata is a ball of energy.” Jihyo laughed. “So, cooking breakfast at 7:15?”

“Sure.” Sana wrote it down. “Mina won’t be awake for another hour though.”

“Hey.” Mina pouted. “I’m always awake by eight. I have work at nine.”

“We all do, well except me. I have a weird schedule.” Sana added, still writing. “So breakfast at eight, like we always do. I can take her with me to classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I only have one class those days. I mean, I have office hours but they are usually pretty chill. Most of the time.” 

“I can take her on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. I’ll ask my boss to work from home on those days.” Jihyo offered. “If I can’t, I can probably bring her. It will probably just be boring.”

“We should probably buy her some new clothes and toys and stuff. She doesn’t really seem like she has any besides the ones Dahyun brought over, especially if she’s expected to entertain herself at home while we work.” Mina mentioned, grabbing Jihyo’s hand. 

“Yeah, that is a good idea. And we can send them to her when she leaves. I’m sure the next house she goes to won’t mind.” Sana smiled. “Okay, so when should nap time be? Is it before or after lunch?”

“I would have to assume after, right?” Mina guessed. “It shouldn’t be too long either, or it will mess up her sleep schedule.”

“Oh, your right.” Sana nodded. “Okay, and then come home and playtime. And then, dinner at six?”

“We usually eat around that time.” Jihyo nodded.

“Yeah, and then we should shoot for her being in bed by eight-thirty? That’s a normal bedtime right?” Mina asked. 

“I think so…” Sana nodded. “Oh crap,” Sana said in the middle of writing.

“What?”

“Bath time exists…” Sana trailed off. “How are we going to give her a bath?”

“Is she old enough to do it herself?” Mina asked. “No, no she’s not nevermind,” Mina answered her own question. 

“Well how about we just get the bath ready for her and promise not to look while she bathes, but stay with her. Just in case she needs help.” Jihyo suggested, tapping her finger on the table. “She’ll probably get more comfortable, as time goes on.”

“Yeah… Your right.” Sana nodded. “So who wants to give her a bath tonight?”

“Not it.” MIna and Jihyo said at the same time. 

“Oh come on,” Sana whined. “I don’t want to do it.”

“You should have said not it faster.” Mina giggled at Sana’s pout. 

“Fine,” Sana whined. “If I have to.” 

“That’s it, babe.” Jihyo giggled. “Accept it.”

“You guys suck.”

“We know.”

When Sana’s done, the schedule is put on their refrigerator, hanging there for all of them to see. 

xx 

After Nico wakes up, she watches some TV while Jihyo and Mina take the dogs on a walk and Sana watches Nico. 

“Oh!” Sana interrupted the silence between her and Nico. Nico seemed a bit spooked by Sana’s sudden yelling but turns to her after a second. “I should take you on a tour of the house.” Sana smiled at Nico. Nico nodded, grabbing the remote with both of her tiny hands. Dahyun had shown her how to turn it on and off earlier, so Nico pressed the button for herself. Sana smiled at that, putting her phone to the side. “Ready?” Nico nodded, following Sana. 

“You’ve already been here, but this is the living room and the kitchen. Over there is the study, and there’s a bathroom over there.” Sana pointed to all the doors as she talked. She opened all of them to show Nico, before closing them again. “This is the laundry room, as well as the dogs' room, their beds are in here.” Sana opened the door to the small laundry room, showing Nico the kennels and laundry machines. “There’s not much else down here, so let’s go upstairs.” Sana smiled, letting Nico follow her as she went up the stairs. Nico practically crawled up the stairs, and Sana found it adorable. “Here is the room you’re in. The bathroom is inside the room, I’m not sure if you noticed that last night. Me, Mina, and Jihyo’s room is right next door.” Sana pointed out, opening the door to each room. Kuromi had been staying in their bathroom since Nico came, the tiny kitten still not quite ready to have the freedom to roam the house. “And over here is our-uh other guest room.” Sana gulped nervously as she talked. “But um, I’m sorry to say this but you aren’t allowed in there. No one is.” Sana explained, looking away from the door quickly. “And that’s it, you can go watch TV again.” Nico looked confused about the room Sana had just mentioned. She stared at the door for a second, confused, before going back down the stairs. She went one at a time, on her butt the entire time. Sana followed, just to make sure Nico didn’t hurt herself. 

After, dinner is uneventful. Nico eats slowly, and only finished about half of her dinner, but she seems content with that. However, when they tell her she needs to take a bath, Nico freaks out. 

“Come on Nico… You need to take a bath.” Sana sighed, looking at the child. Nico had decided to hide behind the couch to avoid a bath, but Sana could see her little hands poking out from the top. Nico popped her head up to nod, ducking back into her little hiding spot. “I know it’s scary. I promise I won’t look. I’ll just be in the bathroom, looking the other way. We need to do this, I'm sorry.” Sana looked to Mina and Jihyo for help, both of them avoiding eye contact. “Come on, please?” Nico seemed unconvinced and Sana sighed, going over to the couch and looking at Nico over the back of the couch. She took a deep breath, remembering what Jeongyeon said. She couldn’t just let Nico get away with everything because of her past. 

“If you don’t take a bath, I’ll call Dahyun.” Sana threatened. Nico seemed to freak out at that, running out of her hiding spot and to the downstairs bathroom. “That worked really well,” Sana commented. 

“Yeah, probably not like you wanted to. Let’s not use that one again as a threat, yeah?” Jihyo sighed. 

“Why?”

“I think the reason she freaked out so much is that Dahyun takes her away from places. So she may think that if you call Dahyun, Dahyun will take her away.” Jihyo explained. “I understand you were just trying to use someone familiar, but you probably scared her.”

“I didn’t think of it that way…” Sana trailed off. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. We’re going to make mistakes, we’re new at this.” Jihyo giggled, weak to her wife’s sad face. “Just don’t say it again okay?”

“Okay.”

“Okay, go give Nico a bath, she’s waiting for you.” Sana nodded at that, going to the bathroom. She found Nico standing by the bathtub, waiting for her.

“Nico, I don’t want to send you away. What I meant by calling Dahyun was she may be able to help convince you to take a bath. I don’t want you to go anywhere.” Nico looked at her suspiciously and Sana sighed. “I promise. That’s all I meant, we are more than happy to have you here with us.” Sana started the bath, adjusting the knob to make it warm, but not too hot. “Come feel this, is it good?” Nico put her hand in the water, nodding her head up and down at the temperature. “Good.” Sana smiled, closing the drain. She waited for the bath to be partially full, she figured she would use about the same amount of water as she used when the dog had baths. Once it was done, Sana grabbed some bubble bath and put it in for Nico. Nico watched, intrigued as Sana mixed the bath together. 

“Okay, I’ll look over here. If you need anything you can tap me.” Sana turned towards the door, sitting close enough to the bath that Nico could tap her if she needed anything. She heard Nico’s clothes rustling before hearing the water splash. She really doubted Nico was old enough to give herself a bath, Haeun was older and Sana still had to give her a bath whenever she was over at their house, but she also didn’t want to make Nico uncomfortable. Sana heard the splashing continue for a bit before it got quiet, and Sana sighed, reaching for her phone to entertain herself. After a bit of silence, Sana realized Nico probably didn’t know what to do. She wanted to turn around and help, but she also knew to wait for Nico to poke her. 

Thankfully, it didn’t take too long. Sana sighed when Nico poked her, turning slowly. She didn’t know what to expect, she hadn’t seen Nico naked before, and considering her history Sana was afraid there might be some marks on her skin under her clothes. Sana hadn’t expected it to be as bad as it was. Nico’s entire stomach was covered in purple, and it extended to her shoulders. Sana’s heart broke at the sight. But she didn’t have time to freak out about it, and it would make Nico scared if she did. So she took a deep breath and let out a little “Yes?”

Nico answered her by pointing to her hair. 

“You need me to wash your hair?” Sana asked, Nico nodding quickly. “Okay.” Nico seemed tense as Sana grabbed the shampoo. She took a deep breath before getting a little bit on her hand, leaning over the edge of the bathtub to get Nico’s hair. She regretted wearing a shirt, as Nico had gotten it wet when she tapped her, but Sana couldn’t focus on that right now. “Close your eyes.” Sana took the sprayer from the showerhead and made sure Nico’s eyes were closed before washing the shampoo off of her head, using one hand above Nico’s eyes to keep it from getting in it. After she was done, Nico opened her eyes, looking at Sana with wide eyes. 

Sana just gave her a gentle smile before moving onto the conditioner. 

xx 

The rest of the bath went uneventfully. Sana realized she had forgotten to get some pajamas for Nico, so she left her in the bath to go upstairs and grabbed some old pajamas that looked like they had been worn one too many times before returning to Nico. She grabs a towel and opens it for Nico. It was a habit from when she bathed Haeun and Hina, both of them absolutely loved getting wrapped in towel hugs after their baths.

“Oh right.” Sana reminded herself, wrapping the towel around Nico without hugging her. She then grabbed another one and stood off to the side. “Do you mind if I dry your hair?” Nico nodded yes and Sana smiled, gently drying Nico’s hair. Nico stood there, still, pulling the pink towel closer to herself. 

As she was drying her hair, Sana thought she might have seen a tiny smile on Nico’s face. 

xx 

After the bath, Nico goes back to the living room. She silently doodles on some paper Mina had gotten out for her while Mina, Sana, and Jihyo watched the news. When the clock hits eight-thirty, they all eye each other, silently thinking about how they were going to approach bedtime. 

“Nico?” Jihyo called her name. Nico looked up at her at the mention of her name. “It’s time for bed.” Nico nodded, putting her pink crayon down 

“Yeah, do you have a preference on who takes you to bed?” Mina asked. Nico looked at all three of them, her gaze lingering on Sana, though she didn’t point to her. 

“Sure, I’ll take you to bed.” Sana giggled at Nico’s silent request. She got off the couch, kissing Mina and Jihyo once before standing by Nico. “You ready?” Nico nodded, standing up and leaving her drawing. Sana went up the stairs, before turning and waiting for Nico. Nico had always seemed a bit reluctant on the stairs, but she was always able to do it. Once Nico was upstairs, Sana pulled the covers back and arranged Nico’s pillows for her. Nico climbed into the bed, using the little stool they had put their last night. They had bought it for when their nephews and nieces came over so they could use the bathroom easier, and they were happy it had a new use. Once she was laying down, Sana pulled the covers up for Nico, before smiling and turning the lights off. 

“Goodnight Nico.” Sana smiled at Nico. Nico used her hand to gesture Sana over, Sana approaching Nico, a bit confused. When she was close enough, Nico grabbed her hand with both of her tiny ones and squeezed it with a smile on her face. Sana’s heart melted at the gesture. 

She was sure this was Nico’s way of saying thank you. 


	8. but the fire has started right behind me

“She held my hand.” Was the first thing Sana told Mina and Jihyo. Nico had fallen asleep holding Sana’s hand, and after making sure she was asleep, Sana gently untangled their hands and left. 

“She did?”

“After I tucked her in and said goodnight, she gestured for me to come closer and she held my hand with the cutest smile.” Sana giggled, a huge smile on her face as she sat in the middle of Mina and Jihyo. 

“Aw,” Mina commented. “That’s cute.”

“That is adorable, hey let me up I’m going to go let the dogs in.” Jihyo wiggled her way free of Sana and Mina before letting their dogs in. Both of them walked over to the living room, laying down on the carpet. “How was the bath?”

“Well… Her body is in pretty bad shape, but she seemed okay with me washing and drying her hair for her.” Sana answered, cuddling up to Mina. “It was a bit scary to look at… I can’t believe people would do that to a child.”

“Some people are monsters…” Mina trailed off. “How can people do that to a child?”

“I know. I just hope that was the last time anyone even lays a finger on Nico.” Jihyo sighed, falling back against Mina and Sana.

xx 

The next day progresses the same as the first, they stick to their schedule and Nico seems to warm up to them the slightest bit more. Well, she warms up to Sana more. Which they all agree is good enough for now. Jihyo requests for the day off on Monday and to work from home on Wednesday and Friday early Monday morning, and after it’s granted she cooks breakfast, Nico watching her from the counter, coloring the whole time. 

“Okay, it’s time for me and Mitang to go,” Sana announced to Nico, who was sitting on the couch with a toy. Nico looked up at her at that, a sad look on her face. “It’s okay, we’ll be back after nap time.”

“Don’t worry Nico, I’ll take good care of you while they are gone.” Jihyo smiled at Nico, adjusting Kuromi in her lap. “Have a good day at work.” Jihyo went and kissed both of their cheeks.

“Of course, have a good day babe, see you after work.” Sana smiled. “Have a good day to you too Nico-chan.” 

“I’ll pick up dinner on my way home.” Mina smiled at Jihyo, walking over and returning the cheek kiss. Nico and Jihyo both watch as they leave, Nico, hugging a pillow close to her as they go. Once they are gone, Jihyo turns back to the tv, which had Pororo on it. Nico wasn’t looking at it, instead looking dejected as she hugged the pillow tighter. 

“Hey, it will be okay.” Jihyo sighed, offering Nico a smile. “Kuromi is still here.” Nico turned at that, looking at the kitten. Nico reached one hand out and pet Kuromi, the kitten purring under her touch. “We’ll have fun, I promise.” Nico nodded, too focused on Kuromi to really pay attention to Jihyo. 

xx 

Jihyo had thought her day was going to go a lot worse than it did. After letting Nico play with Kuromi for an hour, she warmed up to her a lot more. She even lets Jihyo color with her. 

“Is pink your favorite color?” Jihyo had noticed Nico always went for the pink crayon first when she was coloring. She had worn it down much more than any of the other crayons they had. Nico nodded in response, drawing something that looked like a messy circle with the pink crayon. “I like pink too.” Jihyo smiled, going back to her coloring. Unlike Nico, she was just coloring in a page from a coloring book. Jihyo couldn’t quite tell what Nico was drawing, but it kind of looked like a cat. She guessed it was probably Kuromi. When Nico looked like she was done, Jihyo looked closer at it. It looked a little bit more like a cat now, though it was pink. 

“That’s really good Nico.” Jihyo smiled at the child. Nico gave a tiny smile back, looking at the napping kitten on the couch. “How about we put it on the refrigerator? So Sana and Mina can see it when they get home.” An excitied look crossed over Nico’s face at the suggestion, and Jihyo smiled at that. She was happy Nico was warming up to her, unlike with Sana Nico hadn’t shown any signs of warming up to Jihyo or Mina until now. “Okay, let’s go do it.” Jihyo grabbed the paper, Nico following her closely as they walked to the kitchen. Jihyo took a magnet from the edge of the refrigerator and put Nico’s picture under it, right next to the whiteboard with her schedule. “It looks perfect.” Jihyo smiled, Nico coming up to her leg and giving it the quickest softest hug. 

It was at that moment that Jihyo thought about how this was going to be over soon, and she realized letting go of Nico was actually going to be pretty hard. 

xx 

Jihyo sticks to the schedule like clockwork. She even washes Nico’s clothes while the little one was napping. As she was washing them, she made a mental note to herself that they needed to buy some new clothes for Nico. She also needed some new toys, and Jihyo suspected she might want a plushie. Considering how much Nico hugged pillows, especially when she was nervous, Jihyo guessed she would really like a stuffed animal. 

She’s done with Nico’s laundry by the time Nico’s nap ended. She had to wake Nico up, to keep her on the schedule they had written out. Nico seemed a bit tired and watched some tv to wake up. Jihyo went outside and played with the dogs while Nico did this, making sure to keep an eye on Nico through the window. 

Before she knew it, Mina and Sana were home. Sana got home first, and when she was back, Nico got off the couch and ran to her. 

“Hello Nico, where’s Jihyo?” Sana asked, giving Nico a warm smile. Nico pointed towards the backyard door, and Jihyo stepped through it not much later. 

“I was out with Hinata and Tsuki,” Jihyo explained. “They’ve been a bit lonely since they have to keep spending their days outside.”

“That makes sense.” Sana smiled. “Did you have a good day with Jihyo?” Nico nodded happily, taking Sana’s hand and pulling her towards the kitchen. 

“Oh yeah, Nico has something to show you.” Jihyo smiled at the sight. Nico pulled Sana to the kitchen and pointed to her drawing.

“Wow, did you do that Nico-chan? It’s so good.” Sana smiled at Nico, Nico smiling back at her. Sana squeezed their joined hands before Nico let go, and ran back to the living room. “Is it Kuromi?” Sana asked once she was gone.

“I think so.” Jihyo giggled.

“Did she really do okay today?”

“She did.” Jihyo nodded. “She actually hugged me, well barely. Only for a second.” 

“That’s good.” Sana nodded, moving to get a glass of water. “Jeongyeon is coming over tomorrow after work.”

“Okay.” Jihyo nodded. “You're taking her to work tomorrow right?”

“Yup. I’ll pack her a bag with some crayons and paper tonight after she goes to sleep.” Sana took a sip of her water. “Also, I’ll give her a bath again tonight.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind.” Jihyo nodded.

“No, it’s okay. I’ve got it.” Sana smiled at Jihyo.

“Oh, also I think I’m going to go to the mall tomorrow after work and get Nico some clothes. I washed hers today, and they are well…”

“Sad?” Sana finished Jihyo’s thought.

“I didn’t want to say it, but yeah.” Jihyo sighed.

“I know. That’s a good idea.” Sana answered, taking another sip of water. “Anyway, let’s get back to her. I’m sure she misses us already.” Jihyo smiled at that. 

Jihyo had to remind herself this was all only temporary. 


	9. i fear that i can't take the burning

Mina brings home dinner, and Nico eats a bit more than she did the day before, though she still doesn’t eat everything. After dinner, Sana gives her a bath again. Sana can tell she’s much less tense than the day before, which makes her happy. She’s glad Nico is warming up to them. 

After her bath, Nico goes to bed. Jihyo puts her to bed that night, and though Nico doesn’t hold her hand, she does let Jihyo tuck her in. 

They are all just happy they are making progress, even if it’s slow.

xx 

“Okay Nico-chan, just sit here and color.” Sana pulled the chair out for Nico. She had decided to put Nico at her desk in the front while she lectured. Part of her was tempted to put her in the back, but she knew Nico would feel better if she was closer to her and not surrounded by strangers.”I’m going to be teaching some big kids science, but I’ll be done in an hour. Before it starts do you need anything?” Nico held up four fingers in response. Sana racked her brain for a second and remembered four fingers meant bathroom.

“You need to go potty?” Nico nodded. “Okay. Come on, let’s go. Stay close to me okay?” Nico followed Sana as Sana led her to the closest bathroom to her classroom. She waited outside the stall while Nico went to the bathroom, and when she came out she watched Nico struggle to wash her hands. In their bathrooms at home, they had stools. They hadn’t gotten them for Nico, they had had them for their nieces and nephews. Since they had watched them so much, they had gotten a few basic kid things, and they ended up coming in handy for Nico. But since there were no stools, Nico was struggling. Sana normally would try and find a different solution, but she didn’t have much time before her class began. 

“Nico, do you mind if I lift you up?” Sana asked. “It will be quick, I promise.” Nico nodded, letting Sana pick her up. Sana was careful to not hurt her and she lifted her up to the sink level, watching Nico wash her hands. She put Nico down when she was done. Nico seemed tense after, trailing a little further from Sana than she would like. She felt bad, she knew Nico was not ready for them to be touching her without her initiating, but she had to. In her focus to get back to her class, she didn’t notice Nico’s hand curling in on themselves.

Nico sits quietly at Sana’s desk throughout the whole lecture. Sana’s students had given the little girl questionable glances, but none of them had questioned it before class, all of them instead of asking questions about the homework from last week. After class, one of her students approached her. 

“Is that your daughter Mrs.Minatozaki?” The student asked with a fond smile.

“Oh uh… Yeah.” Sana didn’t know what else to say. If she said no it would be suspicious. 

“Well, she’s really cute. Hi.” The student waved to Nico as she walked out, Nico shying away at the attention.

“You were so good today Nico.” Sana smiled at Nico. “I know it’s pretty boring.” Nico nodded her head to the side at Sana’s statement, pointing to her drawing. Inside the messy scribbles, Sana could make out a couple of the formulas she had written on the board during her lectures. They were crudely drawn and Nico had turned the symbol for delta into a balloon, but it was pretty cute. It made Sana so happy. She had always wanted her kid to like science if she ever had one. Most people wouldn’t think Sana was as into physics as she was just by looking at her, but she had fallen in love with it in high school. She knew she wasn’t the type, but she actually really enjoyed physics. It made sense to her. And she loved it so much. 

She was sure Nico understood none of what the formulas meant, and she had probably just copied what Sana had written on the board, but it made her heart swell to see them inside Nico’s messy drawing. 

xx 

After her lecture, Sana took Nico back to her office for lunch. Mina had packed them both a lunch after dinner. Sana’s consisted mainly of leftovers, but one peek at Nico’s revealed Mina had actually tried really hard with Nico’s. Sana rolled her eyes at that, of course, Mina went all out for Nico. She wasn’t angry, it actually amused her. Nico’s eyes sparkled at her lunch. Mina had made everything star-shaped. Sana knew Mina secretly loved cute lunches, and when she had time she would make them for Sana and Jihyo too. Since Nico’s didn’t eat much in general, Sana assumed it was easier to just make it for Nico. 

“Mina made that special just for you,” Sana told Nico. “You better eat it all okay?” Nico nodded excitedly, using the small baby fork Mina had packed for her to eat. Sana made sure to snap a picture of Nico eating when she wasn’t looking, sending it to Mina and thanking her, telling her she made Nico really happy.

After lunch, Nico’s energy fades quickly, and she falls asleep on the couch in Sana’s office. Sana turned the overhead lights off and turned on her lamp she had in her office, as well as closing the curtains she had put in there. Sana smiled and grabbed the blanket she kept on her chair, draping it over Nico. She gently moved Nico’s head, putting a pillow under it for Nico. That was when Sana noticed the little red marks inside Sana’s hands. They were laying by Nico’s face, open as she slept. Sana carefully inspected them, they looked fresh. There were nail marks on her palm, and it hurt Sana to see them. She gently opened Nico’s hands a bit more, giving them one more glance before making sure Nico was comfortable. Once she was sure Nico was as comfortable as she could be, Sana propped her door open. Her office hours were starting, and even though she rarely had visitors, she needed to keep her door open. 

She only had a few visitors during her office hours. All of the questions were mainly about the homework, and Sana answered quietly. Nico woke up after one of her students left, looking half asleep as Sana noticed her.

“Good afternoon Nico-chan.” Sana giggled at the tiny bit of drool on Nico’s face. Nico pulled the blanket tighter around herself. Sana knew she was tired, but to stick to the schedule Nico needed to wake up now. “I’m sorry but you can’t go back to sleep. Why don’t you color some more? I only have an hour and a half left in my office hours.” Nico seemed a bit angry at that but nodded. Sana turned the overhead lights back on, grading homework between students coming with questions. Nico stayed quiet the whole time, but at the end of Sana’s office hours, she approached Sana and tugged on her pant leg. 

“Hello Nico-chan, what’s up?” Sana asked. Nico held up one finger in response. “Oh, you're thirsty? Here, I brought you your water bottle.” Nico accepted it and drank some water, putting the water bottle next to her after going back to her coloring. “Actually Nico, it’s time to go. I’m all done for the day.” Sana smiled at Nico, packing some papers into her bag. “Let’s bring your pretty drawings home, we can put more on the fridge if you want.” Nico nodded enthusiastically, grabbing her water bottle as Sana led them out of her office and to the car. They had borrowed an old child seat from Momo and Chaeyoung, Chaeyoung having brought it to Mina after work. Since everything was temporary, they knew buying stuff wasn’t a good idea.

Sana buckled Nico in, making sure not to touch her as much as she could. Once she was done, Sana went back to the front and drove home. Nico seemed content in the backseat, and every time she could Sana would look at her in the rearview mirror.

Even if it was all only temporary, she was happy Nico had come into their lives.


	10. i can't hear a sound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just a ~short~ little update

“I have a surprise for you, Nico.” Jihyo smiled at Nico as she came in with Sana. Nico quickly got her shoes off and followed Jihyo at the word surprise. Sana trailed behind them, curious as to what Jihyo bought. She could tell Mina was already home, so after looking at the toys and clothes Jihyo had gotten she was going to track Mina down and give her hugs and kisses. “Ta-da. This is all yours.” Jihyo revealed a table full of new small clothes. Jihyo had washed them all after buying them, and they were all ready to wear. On top of the clothes pile sat a stuffed cat, and Nico seemed more interested in that than any of the clothes. She grabbed it and excitedly hugged it tightly. “Do you like it?” Nico nodded excitedly.

“Did you get her anything else?” Sana giggled, looking through the clothes, instinctively folding them. 

“I got her some new crayons and coloring books.” Jihyo nodded, smiling at how happy Nico seemed with her stuffed animal. 

“These are so cute.” Sana squealed at the tiny clothes. 

“Yeah, I guessed a bit on the size, but they should work.” Jihyo giggled. Nico was still lost in her own world as she hugged her stuffed cat. “I’m glad you like it.” Nico looked at the clothes pile and then her cat. Afterward, she pointed to herself, and Jihyo guessed that was her way of asking if it was all for her. “Yup, it’s all for you. Mina helped me pick it out too.” Jihyo giggled at the smile on Nico’s face. Nico once again approached her leg and hugged it, but this time she held on for much longer than she did before. “I’m glad you like it.”

“You did good Jihyo.” Sana smiled. “And you, you had a pretty good day huh?” Sana turned her attention back to Nico. Nico nodded happily in response. “I’m glad. I hope every day is a good day. At least, from now on.”

xx 

Jeongyeon comes over after dinner. Nico seems a bit skittish around her, and it takes some fighting to get her into the office, but once she’s there she stays quiet, hugging her stuffed cat closely. She barely looked Jeongyeon in the eye, but Jeongyeon didn’t take it too personally.

“Are you still happy with Mina, Sana, and Jihyo?” Jeongyeon started the conversation out, Nico nodding, cuddling her stuffed cat tightly. Jeongyeon was happy Nico had something to hold instead of her habit of curling her fingers in and hurting herself. “I’m glad.” Nico nodded. “Now, let’s get started, shall we?” 

xx 

When Jeongyeon is done, it’s time for Nico’s bath and then bed, so Sana takes care of it while Mina and Jihyo talk to Jeongyeon.

“She seems more comfortable than before.” Jeongyeon started the conversation. “That’s good. That’s progress. You guys are doing good.”

“I’m glad. She has really warmed up to Sana.” Mina smiled, looking at the cup of tea in her hands. “She’s been letting her bathe her and put her to bed.”

“That’s good, she already seems a tiny bit better. I’m happy about that.” Jeongyeon commented. “Continue what you're doing. Has Dahyun told you when she’s going to Busan?”

“No, I don’t think she knows,” Jihyo answered. “She is taking Nico on Thursday to the police station.”

“I’ll make sure to come over on Thursday then, that will definitely dig up some dark stuff for her,” Jeongyeon stated. “There are still a lot of issues, and I’m sure this will be a tough road, but I’m happy we’re at least starting on it. She really is a good kid.”

“Yeah… Yeah, she is.” 


	11. nothing that i say can hurt me

Wednesday goes the same as Monday, though Jihyo is working and isn’t able to focus as much attention on Nico as before. Nico doesn’t seem to mind, alternating between playing, coloring, and watching TV. Sana gives her a bath again, and they agree Sana might just handle bath time for the rest of Nico’s stay. She had relaxed a little bit, especially around Sana and Jihyo. They are just happy she seems to be doing okay, that was all they really wanted for her.

All of them were worried about Thursday. They knew that taking Nico to the police station was going to be rough, it would bring up some old stuff that they were sure would hurt Nico. She doesn’t know about it until Dahyun shows up at their house after Mina and Sana are back from work. 

“Nico, can you please come out?” Dahyun groaned. Nico had hidden behind the couch the minute Dahyun had told her she needed to take her somewhere, and she was refusing to come out. 

“Nico-chan, please?” Sana asked, looking over the couch at Nico. 

“She isn’t taking you away Nico.” Mina sighed. “You’ll be back soon.”

“Can one of us come with you Dahyun? That might help.”

“Well, I don’t think you're allowed to. This is an open police case with sensitive information, so I don’t think just anyone can come. It’s amazing how attached she is already. You would assume she would be afraid of getting attached, but she seems attached to you guys already.” Dahyun nodded. 

“Is that how most kids are?” Mina questioned.

“Oh yeah, most kids won’t get attached to their families for at least a month. They just want to make sure they aren’t going to get taken away or worse. I suppose Nico is just too young for stuff like that, and I mean this is only her second foster home. Plus I tried to explain to her what her former family did was very bad and you guys wouldn’t do that. I think it worked, but I’m not sure.” Dahyun explained. “Nico, come on we’re going to be late.”

“How about this Nico-chan, when you get back I’ll have cookies waiting for you. Just promise me you’ll be good for Dahyun.” Nico looked up at Sana at that, and Sana could see tears in her eyes. Her heart broke at that, she hadn’t seen Nico cry yet.

“I could go with her, in the car. I won’t get out but I’ll stay in the car with her.” Jihyo offered.

“That could work.” Dahyun agreed, stepping away from the couch. 

“No Jihyo, you still have some work to do, I’ll stay in the car with her,” Mina argued, getting off the couch. 

“Yeah, that works. Nico, I promise I’ll be bringing you back the minute we’re done.” Dahyun sighed. “Please?” Nico crawled out of the couch, hugging Sana’s leg. 

“Mina will be going with you, okay?” Sana asked Nico, smiling at her. “I need to make your cookies. But it will be okay, Mitang and Dahyunie will take good care of you.” Nico nodded at that, reluctantly letting go. Nico followed Mina and Dahyun to Dahyun’s car, Mina strapping Nico into Haeun’s car seat once they were there. 

“I’m happy you like it so much, Nico,” Dahyun informed as she adjusted the mirror, looking at the toddler in her daughter’s car seat. “You're doing really good.”

“Yeah, she is.” Mina agreed. “We really enjoy having you, Nico.” Mina smiled at Nico. Mina had decided to sit in the back with Nico, but there was still the middle seat between them. She felt like that represented their relationship, they were in the same house but there was a little bit of distance between them still. She knew Nico felt the closest to Sana, followed by Jihyo, and lastly her. She wanted to change that, even if their time together was limited.

xx 

When they get to the police station, Dahyun unbuckles Nico, leaving the car turned on. Nico still had her cat tightly in her arms, but none of them felt like trying to get it away from her.

“We should be back in about an hour, I’ll text you when we are leaving, if you need to go anywhere feel free, but don’t go too far,” Dahyun informed Mina.

“It’s okay, I’ll just stay here.” Mina smiled. “Good luck Nico.” Mina was worried about how this would go, but she knew this was something Nico had to do. 

Mina busied herself with her phone. She caught up on her group chat with Sana and Jihyo, apparently, Sana had taken the dogs on a walk while her cookies were baking, and she wanted Jihyo to take the cookies out. After she was done, Mina scrolled through her social media timeline, smiling a bit when a video of her niece came on. It made her a bit emotional to see actually. Her heart twisted; there was so much regret she still held onto, even now, years later. 

Nico and Dahyun come back about thirty minutes later. Dahyun is holding Nico in her arms, the child violently thrashing around and crying. When Mina saw the sight, she immediately got out of the car and ran to help Dahyun.

“What’s wrong?” Mina asked, putting her arms under Nico to catch her if she fell.

“I think the officers upset her. We were talking about some… sensitive stuff and she started freaking out like this. I had to take her out here to calm her down.” Dahyun explained. “I tried to calm her down inside but it wasn’t working- Nico stop squirming you're going to fall.” Nico didn’t listen, tears streaming down her face. 

“Hey-hey Nico shh…” Mina felt helpless watching Nico cry. It hurt her so bad to see Nico like this. 

“She needs to calm down, she might make herself throw up.” Dahyun sighed. “I’ve tried everything. Here you take her. Clearly, this isn’t working.” Dahyun passed Nico to Mina, who just stood there a bit confused as she processed what was happening.

“Hey Nico, it’s okay… It’s um, it’s me, Mina.” Mina bent down and let Nico’s feet touch the ground, trying not to agitate her. She knew Nico still wasn’t comfortable with them touching her. She wasn’t even comfortable with Sana touching her, Mina knew there was no way Mina would be any better. “It’s okay. No one is going to hurt you anymore. We’ve got you.” That seemed to catch Nico’s attention, and she looked into Mina’s eyes. Her eyes were red and swollen and filled with tears and Mina absolutely hated it. She tried her best to communicate with Nico that she was safe and that Mina wasn’t going to hurt her. It seemed to work, and Nico went limp in Mina’s arms. She wrapped her arms around Mina’s neck, burying her face in Mina’s shoulder. Mina wasn’t entirely sure what to do with that development, so she just put one hand on Nico’s back, holding her close. She didn't want to push it, so she tried to hold Nico as gingerly as possible.

Nico slowly calmed down in Mina’s arms. It took a while, but Mina didn’t mind. Even if her legs were starting to hurt from crouching for too long and she worried Nico might actually throw up on her. 

“Better?” Dahyun asked after a while.

“I think so.” Mina nodded. “Not ready to go back inside, but better.” 

“Yeah of course.” Dahyun sighed. “She was almost done anyway, I’ll ask if she can just leave.”

“Okay,” Mina answered. It was a bit weird, here she was holding the foster child she had had for less than a week in a police station parking lot. Mina didn’t mind it though. 

She actually thought it kind of felt right, even in a weird way. 


	12. dive into the ground

Nico refuses to let go of Mina after that. She refuses to even move, keeping her face buried into Mina’s shoulder. It was damp, but Mina didn’t mind. They aren’t even able to coax her into Haeun’s car seat. Instead, Mina just buckles her seatbelt over both of them, and Dahyun drives slowly.

When they get home, Mina carries Nico inside, Dahyun trailing behind them. 

“Hey Nico, we’re home,” Mina whispered to Nico. Nico looked up from Mina’s shoulder, a tiny smile on her face as she saw the house.

“It’s my turn to make dinner, so are you good if I take off?” Dahyun asked as Mina used one hand to get her keys out. 

“Oh yeah sure. Thanks.” Mina answered, carefully balancing Nico as she unlocked the door.

“Of course, you did good today Nico.” Dahyun waved as she left, Mina waving before turning to the open door. Their house smelled like fresh cookies, Mina liked it. Nico seemed to too. 

“Hey welcome back, I have your cookies- oh.” Sana interrupted herself when she saw Nico in Mina’s arms. She was surprised to see Nico clinging to Mina so tightly, Nico had maybe hugged her leg a few times for a few seconds but that was the most affection they had seen from her. It was surprising to see Nico letting Mina hold her.

“They smell good.” Mina smiled, kicking her shoes off and using one hand to get Nico’s off too. 

“Thanks.” Sana giggled. “They are chocolate chip. I hope you like them Nico-chan.” Sana approached the two of them, getting close enough to give Mina a kiss on the cheek.

“Why don’t we go get one, okay Nico?” Nico nodded against Mina’s shoulder. Sana trailed behind them, keeping a gentle loving smile on her face in case Nico looked at her. Nico did that when they reached the kitchen and Mina was preparing Nico’s cookie. She looked like she was scanning Sana’s face up and down, and when she decided she was done she turned back to Mina and took the cookie offered to her eagerly. 

Sana wasn’t entirely sure what Nico had just done, but she hoped it was good. 

xx 

Jeongyeon comes over again after dinner. By this point, Nico has detached herself from Mina but starts hovering near her when Jeongyeon comes into the house. 

“Come on Nico, it will just be the two of us, like usual.” Jeongyeon smiled at Nico. Nico hung onto Mina’s leg, looking to Sana with wide eyes. 

“Go on, we’ll be waiting for you when you're done.” Nico nodded, following Jeongyeon to the office for her third visit. 

Jeongyeon started with the same question she had started her last session with. 

“Are you still happy with Sana, Mina, and Jihyo?” And well Nico had nodded yes before, this time it was the most animated yes Jeongyeon had seen from Nico so far. 

After that though, Nico seemed like she wanted to be anywhere but with Jeongyeon in her foster parents’ office.

xx 

After her session with Jeongyeon, Nico is exhausted. Mina offers to take her to bed, and Nico trails behind her as she leads her upstairs, rubbing her little eyes as she goes upstairs. When Mina gets back downstairs, she finds Jeongyeon waiting to talk to the three of them. 

“Did something happen today?” Jeongyeon asked. “She was even more withdrawn than usual.”

“She had her talk with the police today… We didn’t go in with her, but Mina rode in the car with her and Dahyun.” Jihyo answered. 

“And how did it go?”

“She came out thirty minutes later crying and thrashing around in Dahyun’s arms,” Mina answered. “But she let me hold her. And she wouldn’t let go once I did.”

“I suppose that is something… How has she been with touching?”

“It seems to be okay with her when she initiates,” Sana explained, falling against Mina’s shoulder. “She doesn’t seem to like it when we touch her, with the exception of how Mina held her today.” 

“I didn’t initiate the hug really. Dahyun just put her in my arms while she was freaking out. I was able to calm her down a bit more though.” Mina added. 

“That’s good, it’s nice to know she’s warming up to you guys.” Jeongyeon smiled. “How has she been with you two?” Jeongyeon turned to Jihyo and Sana. 

“Sana is her favorite, or well I guess until today she was.” Jihyo joked. “She’s been fine around me. She sometimes will give us tiny leg hugs or hold our hands, I think it’s her way of saying thank you.”

“I’m still her favorite, I’m the only one who gets to do bathtime with her.” Sana pouted.

“Of course you are babe.” Mina and Jihyo laughed at Sana.

“Anyway, as much as she seems to hate it, I think your sessions with her are helping, at least a little bit.” Jihyo turned the attention back to Jeongyeon. 

“That’s good… I like working with her.” Jeongyeon nodded. 

“Wait I just realized we never asked you how much you charge. We’re sorry-”

“No, it’s okay Mina. I’m happy to do this for free. It’s not on regular work hours anyway. I would only bring her in for regular hours if I was prescribing her something but she’s too young for most medicines like that, so what we have going is fine.” Jeongyeon refused. 

“Are you sure?” Mina asked.

“Of course, I want to help Nico too.” Jeongyeon looked at the staircase. “Even if I can’t help that much, I want to do as much for her as I can before she goes to Busan.”


	13. fragile silence

During the weekend, they take Nico on a walk with the dogs. Nico sticks close to Mina’s side, away from the two dogs, but she seems to be a bit more comfortable with them. She even gives Tsuki a treat at the end of the walk. Overall, they all enjoyed the weekend. They were following their schedule well and Nico seemed to be warming up to them more every minute they spent together. Jihyo had gotten working from home three days a week approved, so Monday was spent in a similar fashion to the one before it.

On Monday, Dahyun tells them Nico will be moved to Busan in three weeks. It shocks them a little bit. They realize they only have three more weeks with Nico. 

All of them come to the realization they want these two weeks to go as slowly as possible. 

xx 

Nico’s routine seems to be helping her, as by the next week she seems completely in sync with the three of them. Jihyo worked from home on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; and Sana took her to the university on Tuesday and Thursday. It was comfortable for them, comfortable for her. On Wednesday, everything changes for them once again.

“Nico, do you want to help me with dinner?” Jihyo called as she walked up the stairs. She looked to find Nico and Kuromi were both missing from the living room, but she quickly found them crouching in front of the door to the room they never went into, trying to peek under the door. “Nico?” Nico seemed panicked by Jihyo’s calling of her name. She looked panicked as she backed away from the door. Her breathing gets heavy, and pure fear crosses across her face. Jihyo feels so bad for her.

“No, no it’s okay. What were you doing? I’m not mad, you’re not in trouble.” Nico points to Kuromi and then under the door after finally catching her breath. Jihyo looked around and realized the cat's toy was missing. “Did Kuromi’s toy go under there?” Jihyo asked, connecting the dots. Nico nodded in response, still looking quite a bit panicked. “Hey Nico, it’s okay. I promise. I bet you're curious about what’s in there. And that’s okay. Sana probably told you it was off-limits, am I right?” Nico nodded. “Well, it isn’t really off-limits, it’s just- you know what I’ll just show you.”

Nico seemed nervous as Jihyo dug her keys out of her pocket and opened the door. She hugged Jihyo’s leg tightly, screwing her eyes shut. “Did you think something scary was in here?” Jihyo giggled as she opened the door. Of the three of them, Jihyo was the most at peace with her emotions regarding that room. “Go ahead and look.” Nico was expecting something scary, so she was surprised by what she saw. It was a pink, baby room? Yeah, Nico could tell it was a baby room. 

“You're probably a bit confused, I know we don’t have a baby. We never actually have.” Jihyo sighed, stepping forward to find Kuromi’s toy sitting in the middle of the floor. “We almost had a baby, a long time ago. Sana was pregnant- um she had a baby in her tummy. But just a few months before the baby was supposed to be born, she died inside Sana’s tummy.” Jihyo looked at the stuff. It was clean, and she sighed at that. She had told Mina to stop cleaning in there. “We had already set all of this up for the baby… But since she was never born she never used any of it.” Jihyo explained.

“We had already named her and everything, and we loved her so much even though she wasn’t born. We were really excited to have a daughter. So it came as a big shock to all of us. After that, we were all really sad. Sana felt like it was her fault and Mina did too, even though it was none of their fault. We always meant to get rid of this stuff, or at least put it in storage in case we ever actually did have a baby, but well we kept making excuses. None of us wanted to let go. It got harder and harder for all of us to come in here, and eventually, we just started locking the door and not coming in here. We all do sometimes though. Mina still cleans in here, and this is where Sana goes when she’s sad. This all happened long before you were even born. I think it was actually around seven years ago now. Seven years and we haven’t been able to get rid of this room… Kind of pathetic isn’t it.” Jihyo explained the whole story, looking at the room. She had tears clinging to her eyes, but she refused to cry. She wouldn’t cry about this. Not again. She had promised herself she would never talk about this, not now.

“ We had never thought stuff like that would happen to us. Sana was healthy and the baby had been to, at first at least. Losing her hurt all of us so much. We just wanted a daughter, our daughter. But the universe had other plans I guess.” Jihyo wasn’t sure if she was really talking to Nico anymore, she was sure Nico didn’t understand all of this. She was just, talking out loud. She was venting. Like she never really had before.

When she looked down to see Nico’s reaction, however, she found that the little girl was crying. 

“Oh I’m sorry, did I make you sad?” Jihyo bent down, her heart-shattering at the fact Nico was crying. She had at first thought Nico wasn’t a very emotional person, as she didn’t cry much at all during her first few days with them, but after the event at the police station she had started showing her emotions more and crying more. It still was much less than more kids her age, but she started crying at least a bit more often. “It’s okay. That was all a long time ago.” Jihyo’s heart hurt, watching Nico cry about something that didn’t even directly affect her. Jihyo held out her hand for Nico to hold, in hopes, it might calm her down. That was the most physical contact Nico had ever really had with her, and she didn’t want to spook Nico.

Nico gave Jihyo her first hug. It was tight, maybe a little too tight, but Jihyo thought it was perfect. 

Jihyo had to blink back tears as Nico held her. She wasn’t sure if Nico would be okay with her hugging back, so instead her hands just hung limply as Nico cried.


	14. stand beside me

Jihyo didn’t immediately figure out why telling them about their baby had made Nico so emotional. She was usually pretty good about figuring the child out but in this case, she was at a complete loss. None of it made sense to her. Why would a story that didn’t affect Nico at all make her so sad?

Nico had been acting a bit different after the incident earlier, and Jihyo suspected she might be sad or upset. That night, Jihyo takes Nico to bed. She stays after Nico has fallen asleep, holding one of Nico’s hands as she slept. She didn’t know why but letting go of Nico’s hand was especially hard that night. 

Once she’s finally able to pull herself away, she finds Mina and Sana cuddling in their bedroom.

“Bedtime took a while today, huh?” Sana asked, opening her arms for Jihyo to join the cuddle pile. 

“I told her about Hyemi today.” The mood in the room seemed to become serious instantly at Jihyo's comment. “She had accidentally slid Kuromi’s toy under the door, and I showed her room to her.” Sana and Mina were both quiet, both of them much stiffer than before. Hyemi had always been such a sensitive subject to all of them, in fact, Jihyo couldn’t remember the last time any of them had even said her name. She actually wasn’t sure any of them had, since Sana’s miscarriage at least. Saying her name out loud felt weird now. “She started crying when I told her everything.”

“S-she was crying?” Mina managed to get out, still processing what Jihyo had said. 

“Yup. Sobbing.” Jihyo answered. She felt bad for mentioning her, she knew what it did to Sana and Mina, but they deserved to know she told Nico about it. They needed to know. Because by telling Nico they told her something only really their closest friends knew about. “Also, she hugged me afterward.” 

“T-that’s weird…” Mina couldn’t make eye contact with any of them.

“I’m sorry… But I didn’t think we could keep it from her forever.” Jihyo apologized. It was the truth, she knew it was likely going to come up. And the longer Nico stayed with them, the more likely it became. She didn’t want to tell her during Nico’s first day here, but now that they knew each other a bit better Jihyo wanted her to know.

“I thought we could keep it from her for three more weeks.” Sana sighed, looking at her feet. “Though I suppose it doesn’t make much of a difference on anything in the end… I just- we don’t talk about that Hyo.”

“Are you- mad at me?” Jihyo asked Sana.

“She’s only here for three more weeks Jihyo. Haeun and Hina don’t even know about that, and they are our nieces.” Sana groaned, slowly moving her arms away from Jihyo. 

“I don’t know why I felt so compelled to tell her, it’s just- it felt right to tell her.” Jihyo sighed. “Look, I’m sorry, I just, I had to.”

“You didn’t have to.” Sana snapped. “H-Hye-she’s gone Jihyo. She was never even born.” It killed Jihyo the way that Sana wasn’t even able to say her name anymore.

“I know.” Jihyo knew all too well.

“Then why did Nico have to know about her?” Sana asked.

“I’m sorry…” Jihyo sighed. “I know it’s a sensitive subject.”

“You know what- whatever.” Sana blew a strand of hair out of her face. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Do you want me to sleep on the couch?” Sana didn’t answer, and Jihyo took that as a yes. She spared one glance at Mina, who still just looked shocked. 

Jihyo grabbed her pillow and went to the upstairs couch without even looking back at Sana. She knew she shouldn’t have approached the subject like that, but she still stood by her decision to tell Nico. Though she knew Sana had a point, she also knew that telling Nico was also right. Jihyo was confused beyond belief. But she was too tired, she didn’t want to deal with this again until tomorrow. 

While she was sleeping, Jihyo realized why the story had made Nico emotional. Nico had been born into a family where she was unwanted and unloved from birth, whereas though Hana was never born she was already deeply loved. There was a dichotomy between the two of them. Mina, Sana, and Jihyo wanted a daughter and never got one, and Nico’s father didn’t want a daughter and got one anyway.

After realizing that, Jihyo began to feel guilty for telling her the story for Hyemi. Not because she thought Nico didn’t deserve to know, but because she knew it had probably hurt Nico more than she could imagine.

xx 

Jihyo isn’t sure when it happened, but when she wakes up, Nico is cuddled close to her. She was still on the couch and was now cramped with both Nico and her stuffed cat, but Nico was snuggled close to her. Jihyo couldn’t help but put a hand on Nico’s back, the child still deep asleep. She had never expected any kind of affection like this from Nico. She was okay with not getting this kind of affection. But, it was nice. Jihyo loved it more than she ever wanted to admit.

“I’m sorry,” Jihyo whispered to the sleeping Nico. “You deserve parents who love you and want you. And I hope one day, we can be those parents…” Jihyo decided to go back to sleep after whispering that. What she didn’t know was the person she thought was asleep, was more than awake.


End file.
